Element

✯ Chapter 2

Central City is bustling. People are everywhere, buying, talking, riding bikes, looking into shops, and eating. It's so bizarre to see all the elements mixing in one place after being in the Air sector all summer (and only seeing Air elements). In history class, we're told that over 300 years ago, before the war, all of Dimicel was like this. I have a hard time picturing it, but that's just because it's been divided into sectors the entire time I've been alive. But in Central City, the mixture feels natural. I guess it's because in this one place, there has never been a division between elements.

Parisa and I hop off our bikes and walk them on the busy sidewalk. Beautiful, big trees line the streets and offer shade from the hot, mid-August sun.

We're almost to the road that gets us to school when I hear "Ramaya! Ramayaaa!" from behind me. I turn my head to see it's a girl, my age. She has very dark, curly hair that ends right at her elbow, fair skin, and deep blue eyes with the light blue specs all water elements have.

"Brooke!" I yell back as we collide in a hug.

"Hi!" she says with all of her usual energy.

"It's great to see you again! How was your summer?" I ask.

"Well, I spent-"

I interrupt. "Most of it swimming?" completing her sentence.

"Well... Yeah," she says faintly blushing.

"Geez, don't be embarrassed. You're a water element. Seems totally normal," I say.

She smiles. "I bet you spent all your time flying around and lounging on clouds."

"Well, yeah," I reply. I did spend some time practicing for my flying class during the summer. Each element has an element-specialized class that only they can take at school. Unfortunately, clouds still aren't dense enough to sit on.

"So... Who's this little cutie?" Brooke asks, motioning to Parisa, who's shyly standing behind me.

"Oh, get over here..." I pull her in front of me. "Introduce yourself to Brooke." I smile at her.

"Oh, I'm Parisa. Ramaya's sister." She says with a faint trace of a smile.

"Hi Parisa. I'm Brooke Burler. Water element."

"Nice to meet you."

A group of water elements starts shouting at Brooke to come over to them. She smiles at Parsia and me and says, "Well, see you around then! We'll eat lunch together right?"

"Of course," I reply with another smile, and she walks away with her bouncy steps.

Parisa finally speaks and asks, "When did you become friends with another element?"

"My first year," I say. "Breakfast and dinner is eaten with your own element, but you can eat with anyone during lunch. We were both first-years, without many friends, so we just kinda found each other."

"Oh, that's nice," Parisa says with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What are you so worried about? That you won't make any friends?" I ask.

"Umm... A bit," she replies quietly.

"Psht. Don't be." I say. "I'm sure you'll make a ton of new friends."

"I hope you're right." She mumbles.

"I always am, aren't I?" I wink at her jokingly.

"Sure you are." She replies, her response loaded with sarcasm. We slow down and pull up to the walkway that will lead us to Dimicel's School for Elements.

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The school is shining with all of its usual beauty.

The classrooms are all in little cabins made of darkish, but polished wood. They have roofs that are higher at one end of the room and lower at the other. All of the classroom-cabins surround the main complex, which includes the dining room, dorms, and offices. Students are everywhere, laughing, chatting, and showing off newfound skills from the summer.

I see this one kid come over to a small first-year. The small one seems to shrink and looks down at the ground. The older kid asks why his backpack has a big mud-stain on the back that wasn't there a few minutes ago. The kid is mumbling something I can't make out, but I can tell he's an earth element. Suddenly I realize the older kid is about to throw a punch at the first-year. Acting quickly, I flick my fingers, and a tiny tornado appears on the bully's nose. He shrieks like a little girl, and the first-year doubles over in laughter. The older kid sprints away, the tornado disintegrating. I chuckle, and Parisa asks what's so funny.

"Nothing," I say. I don't want her to get a bad impression because of the bully.

We pull up to the large shed where bikes, boards, and other means of kids' transportation are stored during the year. I squint as my eyes adjust to the dark interior. A musty smell lingers in the air, and it reminds me of the smell of an old barn.

The big shed is full of stalls of varying sizes. A sign on the wall tells us to "choose a storage compartment appropriate for the size of your item(s)." I lead my airbike to a larger stall and tell Parisa to follow. We lock the bikes to each other, grab our suitcases, and then close the stall door. I remember we have to  fill out a paper to keep our bikes here, so I stroll over to the small table and write down our names, a short description of our airbikes, and our address. As we finish filling out the form, we put them in a slot in a bin. Then we walk back outside to the big open area in front of the main complex. The small kid isn't here anymore. We take a seat on a wooden park bench.

"A lot to take in, isn't it?"

"No kidding." Parsia replies. Her eyes are wide as she takes in every little detail of the landscape. "This place is just so huge!" she sighs.

"Come on," I say, "Let's go get our schedules before the First Dinner." We stand up and walk towards the main complex.

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This chapter has been revised and edited.

I hope you all enjoy this book! Megan and I really enjoy doing this. Vote this story if you really love it. More chapters are coming! Yay!

<3 Wien+Megan